Had to run

I haven't been running in over two weeks ... well, I had tried running last Monday, but my ankle was in so much pain that I walked back home after a mile.  Last night, I was itching to run.  My ankle has been feeling better and my body was just craving activity.  Unfortunately, I haven't been working out at all.  This injury got to my head.

It's 83 degrees.  I don't like to run in warm weather.  It's after five o'clock.  I like to run in the early morning hours.

Dinner is in the oven when dear husband arrives home.  I explain that I have to run, literally.  He doesn't think that it's a good idea yet ... same opinion as my little sister.  I know, I know, but I have to run.  He smiles and says, "You look ubber cute in your running outfit.  Walk the hills and only two miles".

Fantastic!  I stretched and stretched some more.  I started Gunner (my garmin) and off I went, walking at first since it was downhill.  At the bottom of the hill, I started running.  I had to be grinning from ear to ear.  It felt so good.  I did a little skip of joy.  A hill approached and I walked up it.  Once leveling off, I started running again.  Ankle tendon was still feeling good.  Yeah!  More hills, more walking, and then more running.

When I arrived home, I made sure to stretch and then stretch some more.  I placed Gunner next to my computer and he relayed all the info of my run.  I logged into my favorite running log software, SportsTracks, and showed my dear husband that I had obeyed his wishes.

"See dear, if you look at my pace and the elevation charts, you can see that I walked all the hills.  I have proof."

"Ah ha, but you said that you would only go 2 miles."

"I did."

"No, you went 2.05 miles." ...grinning

Next time, I will stop Gunner right at 2 miles.

Looking at my data, I was surprised.  The moments that I was running, my pace averaged 9:40.

Lake Antoine Classic 15K Race

**I was waiting on the posting of the results before I published this post.

August 7th:  A local race to support Special Olympics!  I signed up the for 15K and the oldest three children decided to run the 2 mile race.

This race was full of lessons.

Lesson 1:  Have everything ready the night before.  Make a race checklist.  We turned around once to get my handheld water bottle (good thing).  We turned around a second time to get the camera.  Luckily, this race wasn't too far away from home.

Lesson 2:  Go to the bathroom at least 30 minutes before the race ... you may be waiting 15 minutes for your turn.

Lesson 3:  Wear the right shoes.  If the course description sounds like a trail race, chances are it's a trail race.

Lesson 4:  Set up your Garmin before the gun goes off.  Make sure those satellites are in sync with you.  Yes, I stopped and waited until my Garmin was ready before I began my run.  It added 2 minutes and 30 seconds onto my time because I was impatient and not standing still.  And I was not going to run unless I knew how fast and how far I am going.  I guess I have some running OCDs.

Before:

After running for 15 Kilometers:

1:42:11 was the official finish time.

Lil' Chef, Mr. T, and Squeaker all started their 2 mile together.

Then Squeaker took off after the first mile leaving behind her two bigger siblings in the dust!

She placed 2nd in her age group with a time of  23:30

Lil' Chef and Mr. T finished together with a time of 32:19 and 32:18, respectively.

Windsor Rodeo Run - 10K

It was a beautiful morning for a run.  The temperature at 8:00 am was 63 degrees.  This was the first year that the Windsor Center organized the run.  They were surprised by how many runners showed up.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on which outfit I should wear.  I went with the majority.

A very good friend of mine (another homeschooling mama) was running her second 5K.  We stayed together for most of the first mile.

Mile 1:  10:20
Mile 2:  10:10
Mile 3:  10:20
Mile 4:  10:32
Mile 5:   9:59
Mile 6:   9:54
The finish:  9:09 pace

Time:  1:02:53

PR!!!  (I beat my last 10K time by 1:39)

Placed 1st in my age group!

Elevation:

Lil' Chef (#343) ran the 2 mile with a good friend of hers (#340).  They are standing next to their swim instructor (bib #370)

Her friend finished first in her age group and Lil' Chef finished 3rd in her age group with a time of 27:20  (39 seconds faster than her last 2 mile race)

Next, Mr. T and Squeaker ran the kiddie race.  Squeaker was disappointed that she wasn't running the 2 mile race.

At 10:00, the town had a Rodeo Parade

We had lunch at a local sub shop and then onto the rodeo!  A big thank you to Babcia and Papa for taking all of us to the rodeo!